From Spore Series

Product DescriptionDarkspore is a fast-paced and intense sci-fi Action-RPG in which you become embroiled in a desperate struggle to save the galaxy from an ancient and powerful evil.

Recruit the best warriors from across the galaxy to build your creature arsenal and collect hundreds of distinctive creature characters, each with their own unique abilities, to wield as your living weapons. Take direct control of your creatures as they descend to the surface of infected planets to battle hordes of enemies and drive back the forces of Darkspore.

The plot in Darkspore sounds very grandiose and involves an experiment by an ancient race of omnipotent beings known as the “Crogenitors,” who created all living DNA in the universe but experimented with a new “exponential DNA” that was unusually powerful but highly unstable. It seems that one ambitious member of this mysterious group not only fused the unstable DNA with his own, increasing his own power substantially, but also created an army of monsters powered by this new genetic material that destroyed most of the other Crogenitors, leaving the last few survivors to flee to deep space with a squadron of heroes stuck in a cryogenic slumber until a solution to the problem could be deduced by the powerful computers of those last remaining DNA architects.

This a chaotic game and one which was designed to be a cooperative experience. Up to four players may team up against the Darkspore, with incremental difficulty and loot rewards for higher player counts. At the end of stages, players are given the choice of walking away with their prize or pressing on for better kit. Players who choose not to participate simply drop out of the game while the rest go forth. Since the game has no experience system, good loot is the only way to increase the abilities of your Living Weapons, which will no doubt factor into more than a few decisions.

There’s a lot of Diablo to it. Players control one creature at a time in a team of three and navigate dungeons entirely by clicking where they want their creature to go or what they want it to attack. There are some nominal button presses to change creatures or use special attacks. The whole point of the game, says Maxis, is fat loots.

That’s right — although based off of Spore (but running on a brand-new engine) the game won’t have you controlling your own creations. The Creature Creator does return, however, and is used in customizing the placement of the various upgrades.

When choosing to beam down from your starship to a planet, you will see a lineup of enemy types that you’ll encounter. This gives you and your friends enough information to decide which three characters from your collection you’ll want to deploy.

A 2 page preview on DarkSpore which goes in-depth on how the game plays out – a must read!

The main carry-over from Spore is the Creature Creator (often described as the Spore’s best feature). Said Creator serves as the underlying technology for every character in the game — whether it’s a player-controlled genetic hero or an A.I.-enemy. In fact, said Creature Creator tech allows for rapid character creation. Lead producer Thomas Vu states, “We can make guys really really fast.” Systems designer Paul Sottosanti adds, “Things that would take three weeks for another company to make — to model and animate properly from the ground up — we skip almost all of that and get a guy into the game in under a day.”

One interesting effect: the genetic heroes will be hand-designed by Maxis personnel, but there will be numerous contests for users to use Spore’s Creature Creator to create enemies in the game for Maxis to include (in addition to the enemies created internally).